New Worlds by Andrew Brooks

The Hive, Manchester [18 Feb 11 - 3 Mar 11]

New Worlds is a collection of composite photographic works by digital artist Andrew Brooks. The exhibition displays a series of fifteen previously unexhibited photographs from around the world – shots that really capture the energy and excitement of travel.

Images range from a hyper detailed cityscape of New York, crumbling industrial plants in the Australian outback, the garish neons of Coney Island juxtaposed against the Baroque splendour of St Peter’s Basilica. Highly diverse, the collection captures vivid moments of sublime beauty from a changing world. Read more…

Silent Cargo in Studio / Futureworks, Manchester 2009

Silent Cargo:

www.reverbnation.com/silentcargoband

www.myspace.com/silentcargo/

Camera test: Olympus trip 35 & Ilford HP5

Harry Hammond – The Birth of British Rock
The Lowry, Salford Quays  [15 Jan 11  - 10 Apr 11]

Starting in the late 1940s, Harry Hammond captured the definitive images of virtually every leading British musician, as well as those of many visiting American artists.

From Cliff Richard to The Beatles, Shirley Bassey to Dusty Springfield, Harry Hammond captured the emergence of the British rock ‘n’ rollers. First circulated through New Music Express (NME), his work has set the standard of pop photography for the following generations.

More than eighty photographs from the V&A collection are on show, most taken from his days as lead photographer at the New Musical Express from its re-launch in 1952 until the early 1960s.

“I’d seen it all: jazz, swing, pop, R&B, bossa nova, doo-wop, and finally, Britain’s acceptance of rock’n’roll,” he once reflected. “With the arrival of The Beatles, and finding that there were now at least 20 photographers at every concert, I decided to slow down.”

Nevertheless, before that slow-down, he set the standard for pop photography, and his images of the likes of Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, and American visitors such as the Everly Brothers and Little Richard have become iconic, none more so than the definitive concert portrait of Buddy Holly. Read more…

City after city and place after another I return home, close my eyes and try to remember what I have seen. Streets, shops, small architectural details. It’s all there. Except for the people.

Memory transforms the individuals into collective shadows – a human sea.

I go back on the street, set my camera on the tripod and start recording. My own memory

Read more…